Aim:

To determine the effects of gender and seasonal variations on the prevalence of bacterial septicaemia among children 5 years and younger; and to identify the bacterial agents responsible for septicaemia and their antibiotic susceptibility profiles.

Methods:

Blood was collected from 1;724 children (967 males and 757 females) aged 1 day to 5 years with clinical signs and symptoms of septicaemia. This study was carried out from 1 January to 31 December 2007 at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital; Benin City; Nigeria. The blood samples were processed to diagnose bacterial septicaemia. Bacterial isolates were identified and susceptibility test was performed using standard techniques.

Results:

An overall prevalence of 22.10of confirmed bacterial septicaemia was observed in this study. Generally; gender and seasonal variations did not significantly affect the prevalence of bacterial septicaemia; though females (50.57) during the dry season had significantly (p 0.001) higher prevalence than their male counterparts (19.91). Staphylococcus aureus was the predominant bacterial isolate causing septicaemia in both seasons; while Citrobacter freundii was the least frequent. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was not recovered during the dry season. Most isolates were susceptible to gentamicin and cefuroxime; but only 1.44of Staphylococcus aureus strains were susceptible to ceftriaxone.

Conclusion:

Bacterial septicaemia was observed in 22.1of children 5 years and younger with clinical signs and symptoms of septicaemia. Seasonal variation did not affect the prevalence. Effect of gender was only noticed in the dry season; where females had a higher prevalence than males. Gentamicin and cefuroxime were the most active antibacterial agents. Rational use of antibiotics is advocated